Clemson vs. Iowa State: The Cheez-It Bowl never meant so much

Clemson plays Iowa St. later this month.

by Ryan Kantor - Contributor - Mon Dec 13 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2021

Cheez-It Bowl Champions… It doesn’t quite have that ring to it.

When the bowl selections were announced and Clemson got sent to the Cheez-it Bowl (previously the Blockbuster, Champs Sports, and Russell Athletic bowl among other names), I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping for a trip to the historic Taxslayer (Gator) Bowl to play an SEC opponent. The Tigers are seeking their 10th win of the season and getting it in a bowl against an SEC foe like Arkansas, Tennessee, or Texas A&M would have put an exclamation mark on Clemson’s strong finish.

Instead, the Tigers were pitted against Iowa State, a 7-5 team from the Big 12. The Cyclones lost two of their last three games and three of their last five. Back when the bowl assignment was announced, it seemed like Coach Matt Campbell could be headed for a bigger job like LSU or Virginia Tech. Aside from keeping the Tigers’ streak of 10-win seasons alive, the bowl seemed rather meaningless.

Since then, everything has changed. Matt Campbell is staying at Iowa State. Meanwhile, Clemson lost three more players to the transfer portal (QB Taisun Phommachanh, WR Frank Ladson, and WR Ajou Ajou). That brings the total up nine just since the start of the season. More importantly, Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables left to take the head coaching position back at Oklahoma where he previously coached for 13 seasons. With that, several highly-touted defensive recruits de-committed. Then, Offensive Coordinator Tony Elliott took the head coaching position up at Virginia. On top of all that, Dan Radakovich took the Athletic Director job at Miami where he got his MBA and began his career in athletics.

While there hasn’t been an official public announcement, it seems highly probable that former Senior Defensive Analyst Wes Goodwin and Safeties Coach Mickey Conn will co-coordinate the defense. There will never be a perfect replacement for Coach Venables, and an internal hire makes a lot of sense for this highly successful unit, but you still want to see some success in their first outing.

The Tigers’ defense stymied Wake Forest and completely shutout the Gamecocks in their last two outings. Continuing that momentum with the new co-coordinators would give confidence to fans and more importantly to recruits and potential incoming transfers. A poor defensive performance would raise all sorts of unwanted questions.

Over on offense, losing Tony Elliott isn’t going to stir anywhere near the level of concern that losing Brent Venables has. With each passing day, it sounds more and more like QB Coach Brandon Streeter will get an opportunity to ascend to offensive coordinator and an analyst will be promoted to an on-field coaching role. Coach Streeter certainly has the experience and has paid his dues, but with the way the offense struggled this year, many were hoping for an exciting outside hire. Joe Brady, the architect of LSU’s 2019 offense, is available. Willy Korn, a former Clemson QB, has had great success as a co-coordinator down the road at Coastal Carolina. Perhaps Tom Manning, the offensive coordinator at Iowa State, would be a fit at Clemson.

Should Coach Swinney in fact keep it in-house with Coach Streeter, imagine the impact of a 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl type performance. In that bowl game, Chad Morris had just left. Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott were co-coordinating the offense for the first time. Cole Stoudt was starting at QB and the team had struggled to move the ball with him at the helm all season. That night was different. The Tigers scored 40 points in the first three quarters to coast to a 40-6 win over Oklahoma. Cole Stoudt was finally healthy and threw for 319 yards and 3 TDs. Clemson headed into the off-season with 10 wins and a feeling of optimism for the year ahead.

If feels like history could repeat itself. The offense will have new leadership and will try to find success with a QB who has only eclipsed 200 yards passing in four games this season. After fighting through knee and finger issues late in the season, he should be healthy for the bowl game.

A dominant performance from Clemson would massively change the narrative and send the Tigers into the off-season and onto the recruiting trail with momentum back on their side. They are 1.5-point underdogs, but truly nobody outside the program knows what to expect.

That’s why the Cheez-It Bowl now has major implications!